President Barack Obama’s facing more opposition to one of his judicial nominees — this time from the left.

A coalition of 27 groups — including NARAL Pro-Choice America, Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn, Democracy for America, the National Organization for Women and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee — is urging the Judiciary Committee to reject the nomination of Michael Boggs, a state court of appeals judge in Georgia whom Obama has nominated to the U.S. district court there.

Democrats in Congress and liberals beyond have been stepping up their resistance to Boggs by calling attention to his record, particularly as a Georgia state representative. But the White House, which nominated Boggs as part of a compromise with Georgia’s GOP senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, is sticking by its choice.

So now the groups are turning to the Senate Judiciary Committee, joining in a letter “to voice serious concern” about Boggs’s record on civil rights, reproductive rights and LGBT rights.

“During his time as a legislator in the Georgia General Assembly, Boggs demonstrated a troubling lack of concern for individuals whose experience and personal history differ from his own,” the letter reads. “Litigants in Georgia, and the nation as a whole, deserve a judge whose commitment to equal justice is clear.”

White House aides argue that opponents are basing their criticism solely on Boggs’s history in the Legislature — where, among other things, he pushed for keeping the Confederate flag flying above the state capitol and for a stricter parental-involvement abortion law. His record on the bench for the past decade, White House aides say, is also important, as is the political reality of the deal with the state’s senators to get approval for their other nominees.

That’s not convincing to NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue, whose group is a leader of the opposing coalition.

“Michael Boggs’ proven track record is that he’s not a man who would be able to separate his rulings from his deeply held personal biases,” Hogue said. “Particularly now, at this moment in time, the role of the judiciary as the third branch of government is too important for politics and backroom deals.”

Hogue said her group and others view the letter as the start of a larger campaign against the nomination, which will continue in the coming weeks with advocacy on Capitol Hill and direct lobbying. The letter is addressed to the Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee, but Hogue said she expected they would broaden their efforts to more senators.

“It’s not one thing, it’s not two things,” Hogue said. “There are a number of dots that when you connect them, not only paint an extremely unflattering picture, but put a lot of the rights of people who would be in his jurisdiction at risk.”